Today in History: Saturday, August 12, 2017

AP Highlight in History:  On Aug. 12, 1985, a crippled Japan Air Lines Boeing 747 on a domestic flight crashed into a mountain, killing 520 people in the world's worst single-aircraft accident.   AP Photo
On this date in: 1851 Isaac Singer was granted a patent on his sewing machine. 1880 Baseball Hall of Famer Christy Mathewson was born in Factoryville, Pa. 1898 The peace protocol ending the Spanish-American War was signed. 1898 Hawaii was formally annexed to the United States. 1944 Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., eldest son of Joseph and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, was killed when an explosives-laden Navy plane blew up over England during World War II. 1953 The Soviet Union conducted a secret test of its first hydrogen bomb. 1960 The first balloon satellite, Echo 1, was launched by the United States from Cape Canaveral, Fla. 1966 John Lennon apologized at a news conference in Chicago for saying "the Beatles are more popular than Jesus." AP Photo 1977 The space shuttle Enterprise passed its first solo flight test by taking off atop a Boeing 747, separating and then touching down in California's Mojave Desert. Astronaut Gordon Fullerton, pilot of the Enterprise 1981 IBM introduced its first personal computer, the model 5150. 1998 Swiss banks agreed to pay $1.25 billion as restitution to Holocaust survivors to settle claims for their assets. 2000 The Russian nuclear submarine Kursk and its 118-man crew were lost during naval exercises in the Barents Sea. 2004 New Jersey Gov. James E. McGreevey announced his resignation and proclaimed himself "a gay American." 2004 The California Supreme Court voided the nearly 4,000 same-sex marriages sanctioned in San Francisco earlier in the year. 2008 Russia halted its devastating five-day assault on Georgia that left homes in smoldering ruins and uprooted 100,000 people.		Video Highlights of This Day in History Today's Birthdays: Actress Rebecca Gayheart turns 45 years old today. AP Photo/Dan Steinberg Name Profession Age Dale Bumpers Former U.S. senator, D-Ark. 92 George Hamilton Actor 78 Dana Ivey Actress 76 Mark Knopfler Rock singer, musician (Dire Straits) 68 Kid Creole Singer 67 Pat Metheny Jazz guitarist 63 Bruce Greenwood Actor 61 Sir Mix-A-Lot Rapper 54 Peter Krause Actor ("Six Feet Under") 52 Michael Ian Black Actor, comedian ("Ed") 46 Yvette Nicole Brown Actress ("Community") 46 Pete Sampras Tennis player 46 Maggie Lawson Actress 37 Dominique Swain Actress 37 Actor Casey Affleck turns 42 years old today. AP Photo/Peter Kramer